To the delight of fans worldwide, the second part of “Cobra Kai’s final season has finally arrived with the next five episodes. When we last left Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and their students—Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan), Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser), Demetri (Gianni Decenzo), Hawk (Jacob Bertrand), and Devon (Oona O’Brien)—they got the shock of a lifetime.
Former ally Tory (Peyton List) had joined up with the villainous Sensei Kim Dae-Un (Hannah Kepple) and John Kreese (Martin Kove) of the Cobra Kai dojo to compete in the Sekai Taikai—the world karate championships. Season Six Part 2 picks right after the reveal and immediately thrusts us into tournament action. One of the things I’ll commend the second half of Season Six for is that they don’t give the well-known Dojos plot armor and raise the stakes.
One particular formidable foe arrives in the form of The Iron Dragon dojo led by Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) and his star pupils Axel (Patrick Luwis) and Zara Malik (Rayna Vallandingham). All three make for formidable foes and kept me invested so much that I wouldn’t mind an expanded universe short film focusing on them.
The fight scenes are more aggressive this go-round but at the expense of some of the story. At the same time, Ralph Macchio gives it his all, his subplot of investing Miyagi’s past drug a bit for my taste. Thankfully, the writer’s room finds an organic way for Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young) and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) to return, along with a fan favorite I won’t reveal.
Since the men in their lives compete, Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) and Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) are neglected to roles as supportive spouses and girlfriends. As for the students, when they aren’t competing, they get the typical plot lines any high school show would get when you place the characters in a fish-out-of-water scenario.
While “Cobra Kai Season Six Part 2” doesn’t top the first entry of the final season, the final moments of episode 10 go somewhere I didn’t think the series ever would, and I can’t wait to see the final episodes in 2025.
Final Grade: B
Part 2 of “Cobra Kai” Six is available to stream on Friday, November 15.
If there were ever a question on Jeopardy with a category about R&B bands and the question centered on Cameo, I’m sure it would be on one of their signature songs, “Candy” or “Word Up!”
For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to venture to the Wolverine State and show some love to “Whose Is It,” the lead single from Melvin Riley Jr.’s solo album “Ghetto Stories.”
From his early days in the family group Wings of Faith, Mr. Gill was born to make music. However, as R&B fans know, Johnny Gill’s initial release with Atlantic Records failed to make a significant impact when it first came out. The 1983 self-titled debut showed a strong voice struggling to adapt to a studio that couldn’t properly utilize its power.